True Respect is Earned

Today, as I sat at the softball game of the 6th graders vs. the staff at the school, I just couldn't believe that my oldest daughter had only 3 days left in elementary school. In the fall she will be off to Jr. High. Where has the time gone? I can't believe she will soon be done with elementary school and that my younger daughter only has 2 years left! As I walked home from the game, all I could think about was blogging!

I actually have another blog. It's where I write to my daughters and a handful of other important young women in my life. It's not necessarily for them to read now, but for them to read later on in life. I use that blog to write my desires for them, the things I pray for them, my dreams for them and much more. Today, as I'm realizing just how old they are getting, I decided to write about marriage.

Here is just a little of what I wrote:

As I've mentioned before, I have been praying for your future spouses
since before you were born. I often wonder about them. Who are they? Do we
already know them? Are they living a good life or is life difficult for them?
Most of all, I pray that they are growing to be God honoring men. I pray that
they are growing to be fully devoted followers of Christ, just as I pray that
for you. I believe that if they are fully devoted to Christ, then they will
treat you like gold! The Bible is clear on how men should treat their wives,
therefore, they'll treat you as God intends a husband to treat his wife.

Recently I was reading Ephesians 5:22-30 and focused on verse
25, Paul says, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave
Himself up for her." Husbands are to be equally respectful to their wives as
wives are to their husbands. Marriage is to be GOD CENTERED! A
marriage is set up to fail if God is not the center. With God as the
center, it won't always be easy, but it will be good. That's because God is
perfection and will bless your marriage if you honor Him.

What I'm about to say is extremely important! If you are
dating a young man and he is not living for Christ, run! If he pressures you
about anything, run! If he says the only way you can prove your love to him is
by sleeping with him, RUN FAST! A true, good man will TREASURE you and RESPECT
you. A true, good man wants nothing more than to meet you at the alter
completely cleansed and pure because he loves God and he loves you and wants to
honor you both.

I realize that's kind of deep for today, but it was on my heart and I'm committed to sharing my heart on my blog. :) Don't worry, my next couple posts will be much more light hearted and will include everything about the end of the school year. God bless you all!